The Beat Goes On...

The wildflowers are maturing quickly. Summer is short in the Rockies, so they need to grow fast, spread their seeds and die before the snow falls. 

Remember that tall weed that I commented on a few days back? It's grown even more and now it has a long stem of flowerets.  

While the bloom is not pretty, it must be sweet as it's covered with ants. The perfect plant for a wildflower garden!

The coneflower is almost at full bloom. There are a few more rows that need to blossom, but you can see where it has already bloomed.   

The asters are having a grand time. They are all over the garden showing off their pretty lavender and yellow faces.   

But the lupine is starting to go to seed. See the tiny pea pods. Each is filled with 3 or 4 tiny seeds that insure there is another generation of lupine in the garden.

 

They Are Gone

 

Just 2 weeks after the robins hatched, they have left the nest. 

I saw one of the birds this morning standing on the edge of the nest. It's about 3 inches tall, without a tail, and of course a speckled breast. The bird looked at me, I looked at it...and then it flew away. I hope it comes back, but for all intents and purposes, the nest is empty. In less than a month, Mama Robin laid 3 eggs, watched them hatch, nurtured them and showed them how to fly away. That's quite a feat!

 

Three Days in Yellowstone

I've been camping with friends in Yellowstone. It's always a treat to take folks to the Parks and see their reactions. This time was no different. The first stop was Old Faithful and she did her thing!

Then we went on the "big game" hunt. We were somewhat successful, but we really had to hunt to find the game. The Hayden Valley which is always filled with bison and other animals, was completely empty. I don't think I've ever seen it devoid of critters in 40+ years of going to Yellowstone. We finally found some bison in the Lamar Valley.      

We also saw two bears in the Lamar Valley. Both were black bears...one was so far up in the tree line we could only see it thru a spotting scope. The other walked right in front of our car.      

We saw our share of elk including this young buck in Mammoth Hot Springs.      

We saw pronghorn in several places in the Lamar, but the best viewing happened in the Grand Tetons where we saw a large herd of about 30-40 individuals. Sadly, we did not get their picture.

We tried to find the one of the wolf packs in the Lamar Valley, but all we saw was their den. Look at the center of the picture and you will see a grayish lump...that's the den. Since wolves are nighttime critters, we did not stay around long enough to see them emerge.

To make up for that, we cheated and went to the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Park in West Yellowstone and saw some wolves and grizzly bears.       

The critters in the GBWDP were rescued from the wild and are unable to return due to injury or age or bad habits (they became used to eating human food and became nuisances). They are well cared for and amazing to watch. So, while we did not see "wild" grizzlies or wolves, we saw the next best thing.

The grizzlies were huge...one Alaskan Grizzly named "Sam" weighed in at 1100 pounds...the others were between 600-800 pounds... A marked difference.

Other critters roam the park, such as Picket Pens (Uinta Ground Squirrels) 

Pelicans      

And other birds. I never get tired of watching for furry and feathered friends and my friends felt the same.

 

Moose

Today we drove the back way into the Grand Teton Park and we saw 2 moose. What a treat. Moose are usually very illusive

Yet here is a mama and her baby. 

Intermittent Springs

Today I took my company to a place I had not been before--the Periodic or Intermittent Spring in Afton, WY. Along the way we saw plinths like this jutting into the sky.

Mountains are not supposed to stand straight up like this...but these boulders don't know they are unusual.

The springs are less than 10 miles out of town...the road starts out as a nicely paved road...then you pass a gate and the pavement leads to a well maintained gravel road that is only open four months a year. After 4.1 miles (if the sign is to be believed) the gravel road ends in a parking lot. After parking the car, we walked about a mile to the headwaters of the spring.    

The stream flows swiflty...and then it will "turn off" for 12-15 minutes, then burst forth again. We never saw the stream "turn off" but we were on the lookout for it to occur.    

The sign tells the whole story. We tested the water, and it was COLD.    

The beauty of the place was amazing.    

I felt like we were walking in a natural cathedral. A beautiful place!

 

 

6 Days Old

Mama Robin let me take 2 pictures today

For the first time, you can see some wing structure. You can also see that the eyes are beginning to have some form. Needless to say, their beaks are huge. The priority is for food and they need big beaks to get fed.

One more view of that big beak. When I peeked in for my morning picture, the babies were moving around in the nest, which was a new behavior. It's been fun watching these little guys grow.

 

16 for Project Linus

I just finished my 16th blanket of the year, and this one is for Project Linus. It's a multicolor delight that will keep a youngster warm.

I made up the pattern as a change was needed from my favorite zigzag design. 

 

Day 5

The baby robins are growing at an amazing rate. Today they have more blackish feathers down their spines...and some white

Fluff is growing on their bodies. Look at that big beak? Their eyes are still closed...I wonder when they will open up? I see mama flying back and forth all day long bringing food to her chicks. Today, she did not scold me for taking a picture. I wonder if she's getting used to me?

 

More Wild Life...Flowers and Otherwise

The flowers are going wild (no pun intended). The pretty 3-Spot Lily appeared today.

It's a delicate bloom with 3 spots, hence it's very creative name.  

I love the touch of lavender on the flower. But we also have some   

Saxifrage blooming. This plant is tall--maybe 55 inches tall and the top is covered with small yellow blossoms. Any other place it would be called a weed, but I think it's wonderful.  

Tiny lavender harebells are blooming. If you listen carefully you might hear them ring?  

And there are the white bells too.

Remember the yellow salsify...well this is the "puffball" the salisfy will become. It's about 3 inches across and it's ready to spread more seeds for next year. 

 But the big treat this morning were   

The twin fawns wandering around the front yard. I've been looking for these fellows all summer as I knew there had to be fawns around...but they have been illusive. Today I got a quick look at the pair, spots and all. I know the picture is blurry, but it's the best I could do before they disappeared into the understory. 

 

Also wandering around the yard this morning was a yearling stag. His antlers are about 2 inches long, but they are growing quickly...as they were only a inch long 2 days ago.   

He won't me let too close to him, so I took this picture from the screened porch. He's a healthy boy and if he's smart, he'll stay in my backyard away from the hunters in the fall.

 

Four Days Old

The 3 little robins are four days old and they are starting to look like something that might resemble a bird. They

Have a distinctive line down their backs which they did not have yesterday. And, Mama Robin must be getting used to me, as she did not scold me when I took their picture today. 

 

Last Night

The fireworks in Idaho Falls were wonderful. What a way to celebrate the birth of the United States!

 

I Think There Are 3

Here's the daily progress on my baby birds...day 3 and I think there are 3 little birds in the nest. Yet again, Mama Robin was not happy when I took the picture this morning, but I did get a quick glimpse into the nest. 

I think I see 3 little forms in the nest. Look at that beak? It looks like it's demanding food NOW!

 

Happy 240th Birthday America

It's Independence Day! 240 years ago our forefathers acted on an idea and ratified the Declaration of Independence.  

Thank you brave founders for creating one of the best countries on earth. Long may this flag wave in FREEDOM.  

Day 2

Mama Robin is very protective of her nest. Today when I went to take a picture she scolded me longer and louder than before. The third egg is missing...but I cannot tell if the third egg hatched. What do you think? Maybe tomorrow I can get a better look.

 

New Life

Mama Robin has built a nest in the Alberta Spruce next to the back porch. It's not a good place for a nest as we use the porch all the time...and everytime we leave the house, she flies out of her nest. On the other hand, the nest is low to the ground and I can see what is inside of it. Yesterday it had 3 eggs. Today

It has two tiny robins and an egg. The third egg arrived about a week after the first two, so I don't know it's fate, but we might have a third baby robin soon.

 

Flowers in the Garden

More flowers are showing up each day...but the one I don't want to see has appeared. That's the aster. Local legend says

When the asters appear, summer will end in 6 weeks. I've found that's not exactly true...it usually means 8 weeks. I've been analyzing their growth patterns for close to 20 years. Will summer end around the first of September? I hope I'm wrong as summer in the Rockies is heavenly.

One of the beauties of the wild garden is the Black-eyed Susan. I don't know why she is called Black-eyed when the "eye" appears red to me, but that's the way it goes. She's a big bloom, about 3 inches across, quite shaggy and I think she's a wonderful addition.      

Here you can see 3 phases of the flower...just getting ready to bloom, in full bloom and just a little "over" the top. I like the last phase the best.

The Wyoming State Flower is the Indian Paintbrush. For several years, the flower was just called the "Paintbrush" or the "Wyoming Paintbrush" but as I was looking up official state emblems yesterday, I noticed that the name was changed back to "Indian Paintbrush." I wonder why?

Another new flower is Arnica. Sometimes it's called a daisy. Both names work. They usually bloom in July and this one is right on schedule.

Last week I published a picture of a coneflower and i said it would get teeny tiny yellow florets soon...well here they are. The florets will slowly work their way up the cone, one row at a time. It will never be completely filled will yellow florets. You have to wonder what type of insect this flower attracks? 

Primordial Ooze

Do you know what this is?

To me it looks like something that crawled out of the primordial ooze. It’s prehistoric almost. It’s a bud, by the way, and it’s going to turn into something beautiful.

It’s an Oriental Poppy, and while it is related to the Opium Poppy, it is not a narcotic. 

Never judge a book by it’s cover.